Channeler's Choice (21 page)

“
To have children a pair of channelers must

be bonded. This is both a curse and a

blessing to our kind.”

~from
Life In A Society
.

Chapter 19

After a long night of talking to Aiden on the phone, Eren had a hard time rousing herself from bed the next morning. Due to the amount of sunlight bathing her bed, she guessed it was past nine. Late for a Monday, but Aunt Sylvia was keeping her out of school today so it was alright. She hadn’t said what it was about, just girl stuff, but Eren wasn’t complaining. Normally she was up with the sun jogging, but considering she hadn’t hung up the phone until 1:30am she decided to let her routine slide a bit today.

They talked in great detail about the Rector’s exchange of power. Aiden told her he had talked to Alin about it and ended up staying the night there. Something else seemed to be bothering him, but he insisted it was nothing. Her instincts told her it was more than just this new complication in their relationship, but she let it go since he got tense when she asked. She knew that if it was important he’d tell her at some point.

By the time she dragged herself out of bed the sun had disappeared and rain was streaming down the huge round window. So it was going to be one of those days then. Great. Oh well, she loved the sound of the rain on the roof. It motivated her to take a very long, very hot shower.

When she finally made her way downstairs, she heard Aunt Sylvia’s voice coming from the kitchen.

“
Do you really think she’s ready for that?” Zolin asked, sounding not only doubtful but very reluctant.

Eren’s steps slowed and she crept along, carefully placing her feet where she knew the floor didn’t creek.

“
Trust me, Dad, she’s ready,” Aunt Sylvia said.

“
But she’s so young. This shouldn’t be necessary for another eighty years or so. I just thought we’d have more time,” Zolin’s words ended in a sigh.

“
She’ll be seventeen this summer. Losing both her parents forced her to grow up fast. This is the right thing to do. It will make sure she has the time to finish growing up,” Sylvia said.

“
You’re right,” Zolin agreed, but he didn’t sound happy about it.

Acting as casual as she could, Eren strolled into the kitchen and went straight for the coffee pot. “Good morning,” she said.

Once she had her coffee, she threw together a small bowl of cereal and sat down at the bar. Grandfather looked like he wanted to say something but instead got up and started to clean. Considering the kitchen was already spotless it wasn’t hard to figure out something was wrong. Eren started to wonder exactly what it was Aunt Sylvia was taking her to do.

The moment she emptied her bowl and set it down, her grandfather picked it up. Aunt Sylvia grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet.

“
Better hurry or we’ll be late,” she said as she whisked her from the room.

Eren cast a longing glance back at her half empty coffee cup but didn’t resist. The hallway went by in a blur and they were practically skipping out to the street a second later. She hardly got the Jeep door closed before Aunt Sylvia put it in drive.

“
Okay Aunt Sylvia, what was that all about?” Eren asked.

“
That was your grandfather not wanting you to grow up.”

For a while they traveled in silence, which was highly unusual for Aunt Sylvia. If she wasn’t ready to give up more than what Eren had already heard, Eren didn’t really know what to say. Apparently they weren’t going out of town because Aunt Sylvia turned north onto the street that served as the line between Tibetan and Irish territory. Almost a mile down the road, she turned right into the Tibetan part of town. After a few more turns she pulled into a parking spot in front of a two-story building that looked like it had been plucked from the Himalayas a few hundred years ago. The trim on the high peaked roof glimmered as if it were real gold instead of paint. It wouldn’t surprise Eren if it was.

“
Don’t be mad at me,” Aunt Sylvia pleaded.

Suspicion tingled its way up Eren’s neck. “Why would I be mad at you? What is this place?”

There was no sign for a business but it didn’t look like a residence either. The architecture of Tibetan homes was similar to this but not quite as ostentatious and for the most part, not as large. That meant it had to be a business of some kind.

“
A Tibetan bath house, among other things. It’s kind of like a spa,” Aunt Sylvia said before opening the door and stepping out.

Her quick exit from the vehicle didn’t give Eren a chance to ask any more questions and she was pretty sure that wasn’t by accident. It didn’t sound sinister. But if that were so, why did Aunt Sylvia sound so nervous? She had said ‘among other things.’

Well, she wasn’t going to get an answer sitting alone in the Jeep.

Taking a deep breath, she jumped out and followed her aunt to the bright red double doors. They opened into a waiting room filled with comfortable looking couches. There was no reception counter and the room was empty. Before Eren could ask anything of Aunt Sylvia, a woman emerged from the hallway on the other side of the room.

“
Eren? Right this way. The doctor is almost ready for you,” the woman said with a warm smile.

Eren’s jaw dropped. “Spa, huh?”

“
Among other things. Even channelers need checkups and yours is overdue,” Sylvia said.

The next half hour trumped all the embarrassing moments in Eren’s life. Those moments seemed to be seriously adding up lately. That a doctor could be so casual while inspecting
those
parts of her anatomy absolutely floored her. It helped that it was a woman, but not enough to stop her from glaring at her aunt the entire time.

Finally, it was over and the doctor left so she could get dressed, which really seemed pointless considering that she had just looked at every part of Eren. When she came back she handed Eren a small, flat package and gave her strict instructions to take one pill every day. She was adamant about her not missing a pill, ever.

Eren stared in horror at the woman, but said nothing. The doctor grinned and clapped her hands together as she turned to lead her and Aunt Sylvia to the bathhouse. It was a large room occupied by a shallow pool of water so hot that the steam rolling off it made it hard to see. Though it looked like the pool could hold a hundred people in it, thankfully, there were only three other women on the opposite side of the room. Despite being mostly submerged it wasn’t hard to tell they were naked. Of course they were.

Muttering in Mayan, Eren stripped down and climbed into the blissfully hot water. After what she’d just endured it hardly seemed to matter who saw her naked now. For just a moment she rested her head back against the blue tiled edge of the pool and let herself relax. She waited until Sylvia settled into the water next to her before she said anything.

“
Birth control?”

“
I’m sorry I had to spring it on you but I was afraid you wouldn’t come if I told you,” Sylvia said.

She sounded genuinely sorry but Eren wasn’t ready to forgive her just yet. “Aunt Sylvia, why don’t you trust me?”

Sylvia ran a wet hand through her hair and had to stop halfway through due to the tangles. She looked like she was stalling as she tried very hard to figure out what to say.

“
It isn’t hard to see that the feelings you and Aiden have for each other are genuine. It’s only natural for your relationship to progress and I just don’t want it to catch you off guard when it gets to that point,” she finally said.

As much as Eren wanted to be mad, the truth of Sylvia’s words made it hard.

“
Thanks, Aunt Sylvia.”

“
What? Really?” Sylvia asked as she sat straight up, her brown eyes wide.

“
You’re right. Don’t freak out or anything, Aiden and I aren’t planning on taking the next step anytime soon. But we weren’t planning on the Rector exchange of power thing either. Who knows what other surprises will complicate things even more.”

For a moment Sylvia stared at her with open mouthed disbelief. Then she shook her head and laughed. “I’m supposed to be the adult.”

Eren smiled and breathed in the steam that rolled off the water. It had a subtle jasmine scent to it that was wonderfully soothing. After the past couple of days if felt great to relax. She knew her aunt’s words were only half joking. At sixteen she shouldn’t have to be so grown up, but without parents here to guide her, Eren figured she had to step it up a bit. Aunt Sylvia, Uncle Alin, and Grandfather Zolin worked so hard to give her every opportunity. She didn’t want to blow it.

“
Since you’re being so open minded, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about,” Sylvia said.

Forcing her eyes open, Eren steeled herself for something else unpleasant. She couldn’t possibly imagine anything that could trump the whole doctor visit and she was really hoping Aunt Sylvia hadn’t either.

“
I was hoping you might be willing to visit a few college campuses this summer. Of course, Aiden could go with you.”

With those words the day went from one of the most uncomfortable in Eren’s life, to one of the most amazing. Squealing, she lurched over to embrace her aunt, splashing water everywhere. The three Tibetan women across the pool from them stared in open disapproval at the commotion but Eren didn’t care.

“
I’d love to! Aunt Sylvia you’re the best!”

“
Excellent. I have a bunch of pamphlets for you and Aiden to look through when we get home,” she said.

Grabbing the edge of the pool, Eren looked at her aunt expectantly. “Well let’s go!”

Sylvia shook her head and laughed, her black hair clinging to her cheeks. “Relax. Aiden won’t be over for a few more hours and we’ve got manicure and pedicure appointments after our soak,” she said.

Eren smiled as she nodded and relaxed. “Awesome.”

After a day of being pampered at the spa, it wasn’t hard for Eren to forgive her aunt for tricking her into going to the doctor. They even stopped down the street and got their hair cut. While Aunt Sylvia got her bob shortened, Eren went for a trim that brought her long black hair up to the middle of her back. It had been almost a year since she’d had it cut and considering how heavy it had been getting, it felt great to get it done.

The mixture of spruce and vanilla that was Aiden’s scent, lingered in the hallway as Eren walked into her grandfather’s home. She skipped toward the stairs, pulling up short when Aunt Sylvia called after her. She turned around to see her step into the living room and grab a handful of large envelopes off the coffee table.

“
If you don’t like any of them let me know, there’s more on the way,” she said as she handed them to her.

Glancing at them only long enough to notice they had a lot of stamps on them, she clutched them to her chest and dashed upstairs.

“
Thanks, Aunt Sylvia,” she called over her shoulder.

Halfway up the stairs to her attic suite, Eren realized she was going to have to explain to Aiden where she’d spent the day. Not that he would require an explanation, but he would ask and she wasn’t about to lie to him. Her churning stomach slowed her steps.

She stepped through her mini living room and saw him sprawled across her bed making the old statues of roman gods look bad. Over the past few months his short, spiky black and brown hair had grown out. The shortest locks now reached his cheek bones. That wasn’t all that had grown either. Since he was wearing only a pair of faded blue jeans and a clinging t-shirt, it was impossible not to notice the hard muscles of his chest and abs.

Her arms clutched the pamphlets tighter to her chest and she heard the tiny packet in her pocket crackle under the pressure. Knowing what it was made her blush hotly. Damn, so much for being smooth about this.

Laughing, Aiden swung off the bed and crossed the room to meet her. He took her in his arms and lifted her chin to make her meet his gaze. Those beautiful hazel eyes—so filled with love—almost made her forget why she was embarrassed.

“
You shouldn’t be embarrassed about how I affect you. You do the exact same to me,” he told her.

“
I do, huh?”

He murmured an affirmative answer and bent to give her a kiss that was almost painfully chaste. With his chest pressed against her, she had a hard time keeping it that way.